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The direct rebound effect for private car transport was estimated by following a large sample of Swedish households (28,876) that acquired a new car in 2009. For some households, this resulted in an improvement in fuel efficiency, whereas others acquired a less or similarly fuel efficient car. The households' travel distances were measured and analysed for a period of 3 years before and 3 years after the car was replaced. This approach differs from previous econometric analyses in which fleet-average changes in distance travelled were studied, often using fluctuations in fuel cost as a proxy for changes in fuel efficiency. No significant bivariate relationship was found between changes in fuel efficiency and annual distance travelled but a multivariate analysis that also included changes in income, number of cars in the household, car weight and car power, resulted in a significant rebound effect of 24 %. Households who bought a car that was labelled 'green' did not exhibit any rebound effect, while households who bought a 'normal' car displayed a rebound effect of 32 %. This could indicate that households that buy a car with improved fuel efficiency for environmental reasons also avoid the economically induced rebound effect. The analysis did not indicate any significant differences in the rebound effect between different socio-demographic groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to analyse and compare the patent collaboration networks of Spain and Sweden during the Second Industrial Revolution, a key period for technological and industrial development in several economies and the distinct development paths taken by these two countries. The data used are from two new historical patent datasets for Spain and Sweden for the period 1878–1914. To study the structure of collaboration networks in both countries, we applied social network analysis methods and focused on two specific key network properties: connectivity and openness to external nodes. The results demonstrate that collaboration networks were better connected and more open to foreign influence in Sweden than in Spain. This research opens new paths for further multidisciplinary studies both on the evolution of industrial economies and on innovation networks dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates how donation behavior to charitable organizations and helping intentions toward begging European Union (EU)-migrants are related. This question was tested by analyzing survey responses from 1,050 participants sampled from the general Swedish population. Although the overall results suggested that donations to charitable organizations were positively related to helping intentions toward beggars, the results differed substantially as a function of whether the organization was perceived to focus its efforts on outgroup victims or on ingroup victims. Specifically, whereas donation behavior toward outgroup-focused organizations clearly predicted more helping intentions toward beggars (also when controlling for demographics, education, income, religiosity, and political inclination), donation behavior toward ingroup-focused organizations predicted slightly less helping intentions toward beggars. We conclude that the type of charitable organization a person donates to might tell us more about his or her values and preferences than merely whether or not he or she donates at all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the contemporary discussion on society's transformation towards long-term climate targets, it is often implicitly assumed that behavioral changes, unlike technological changes, would lead to reductions in human well-being. However, this assumption has been questioned by researchers, who instead argue that people may live better lives by consuming less and reduce their environmental impact in the process. In this study we explore the relationship between greenhouse gas emissions and subjective well-being, using a sample of 1000 Swedish respondents. Our results show that there is no strong link between an individual's emissions and subjective wellbeing. We also analyze the relationship between specific emission-intensive activities and subjective well-being and find that none of the activities examined correlates with subjective well-being. Finally, we explore a hypothesis put forward in the literature, suggesting that a poor work-life balance, long commuting distances, and materialistic values may decrease individuals' subjective well-being and increase greenhouse gas emissions. Our results indicate that materialistic values do correlate with lower levels of well-being and to some extent also with higher greenhouse gas emissions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The objective of this article was to investigate the existence of horizontal inequality in access to care for six categories of elective surgery in a publicly funded system, when care is rationed through waiting lists. Administrative waiting time data on all elective surgeries (n = 4,634) performed in Östergötland, Sweden, in 2007 were linked to national registers containing variables on socioeconomic indicators. Using multiple regression, we tested five hypotheses reflecting that more resourceful groups receive priority when rationing by waiting lists. Low disposable household income predicted longer waiting times for orthopedic surgery (27%, p < 0.01) and general surgery (34%, p < 0.05). However, no significant differences on the basis of ethnicity and gender were detected. A particularly noteworthy finding was that disposable household income appeared to be an increasingly influential factor when the waiting times were longer. Our findings reveal horizontal inequalities in access to elective surgeries, but only to a limited extent. Whether this is good or bad depends on one's moral inclination. From a policymaker's perspective, it is nevertheless important to recognize that horizontal inequalities arise even though care is not rationed through ability to pay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In Sweden three key criteria are used for priority setting: severity of the health condition; patient benefit; and cost-effectiveness. They are derived from the ethical principles established by the Swedish parliament 1997 but have been used only to a limited extent in primary care. The aim of this study was to describe and analyse: 1) GPs', nurses', and patients' prioritising in routine primary care 2) The association between the three key priority setting criteria and the overall priority assigned by the GPs and nurses to individual patients. Methods: Paired questionnaires were distributed to all patients and the GPs or nurses they had contact with during a 2-week period at four health centres in Sweden. The staff registered the health conditions or health problem, and the planned intervention. Then they estimated the severity of the health condition, the expected patient benefit, and the cost-effectiveness of the planned intervention. Both the staff and the patients reported their overall prioritisation of the patient. In total, 1851 paired questionnaires were collected. Results: Compared to the medical staff, the patients assigned relatively higher priority to acute/minor conditions than to preventive check-ups for chronic conditions. Severity of the health condition was the priority setting criterion that had the strongest association with the overall priority for the staff as a whole, but for the GPs it was cost-effectiveness. Conclusions: The challenge for primary care providers is to balance the patients' demands with medical needs and cost-effectiveness. Transparent priority setting in primary care might contribute to a greater consensus between GPs and nurses on how to use the key priority setting criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Depressive disorders have been associated with a number of co-morbidities, and we hypothesized that patients with a depression diagnosis would be heavy users of health care services, not only when first evaluated for depression, but also for preceding years. The aim of this study was to investigate whether increased health care utilisation and co-morbidity could be seen during five years prior to an initial diagnosis of depression. Methods: We used a longitudinal register-based study design. The setting comprised the general population in the county of Östergötland, south-east Sweden. All 2470 patients who were 20 years or older in 2006 and who received a new diagnosis of depression (F32 according to ICD-10) in 2006, were selected and followed back to the year 2001, five years before their depression diagnosis. A control group was randomly selected among those who were aged 20 years or over in 2006 and who had received no depression diagnosis during the period 2001-2006. Results: Predictors of a depression diagnosis were a high number of physician visits, female gender, age below 60, age above 80 and a low socioeconomic status. Patients who received a diagnosis of depression used twice the amount of health care (e.g. physician visits and hospital days) during the five year period prior to diagnosis compared to the control group. A particularly strong increase in health care utilisation was seen the last year before diagnosis. These findings were supported with a high level of co-morbidity as for example musculoskeletal disorders during the whole five-year period for patients with a depression diagnosis. Conclusions: Predictors of a depression diagnosis were a high number of physician visits, female gender, age below 60, age above 80 and a low socioeconomic status. To find early signs of depression in the clinical setting and to use a preventive strategy to handle these patients is important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon calculators can potentially help people understand and reduce their climate impact. This paper describes the features of Svalna, a mobile application that estimates users' greenhouse gas emissions by means of a hybrid approach that relies on financial transaction data from the users' bank paired with environmentally extended input output analysis; data from official registers of governmental agencies, and data entered by the users themselves. Applying financial transaction data in carbon calculators is increasingly popular, and I discuss the benefits and drawbacks of using such data in order to estimate greenhouse gas emissions. The paper also describes how design features have been developed based on insights from behavioral science and previous research on carbon calculators. The mobile application is available for use in Sweden and had approximately 15,000 users in December 2019. • This paper describes a carbon calculator that uses financial transactions and EE-MRIO data to estimate users' carbon footprint. • The methodology is presented and the benefits and drawbacks of this approach are discussed. • The design of the mobile application and how it builds on insights from behavioral science is described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]